Pakistan Information & News

 World No 1 Spanish Rafael Nadal clinched gold medal in the mens single tennis competition of Beijing Olympics beating Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 7-6, 3 here on Sunday and Nadal who has had an out standing year so far winning both French Open and Wimbledon displayed attacking tennis from the word go against an opponent who has produced some remarkable tennis in the last one week at Beijing.

Throughout the match Nadal was at his best executing perfect forehands and backhands with elan. Though world no 12 Gonzalez came up with some great shots in patches it was not enough to beat a man who humbled world no 1 Roger Federer in Wimbledon a month back to herald his march to greatness. In the 1^st set Nadal broke Gonzalez twice, thus paving the way for a cakewalk. But in the second set Gonzalez fought back well to take the set to the tiebreak where Nadal produced some stunning backhands to take home the second set and the loss of the second set, might have devasted the morale of Gonzalez and lost the decider 6-3.

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 The pair of Indian tennis aces Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes stormed into the quarterfinals of men’s doubles tennis and the seventh seeded Indians played compact tennis to defeat Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa of Brazil 6-4, 6-2 in just over an hour. In the quarterfinals, they will take on the winners of the second round match that pits fourth seeded Swiss pair of Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka against the mercurial and Russian duo of Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny.

Paes and Bhupathi were in perfect sync and they combined well to negate the Brazilians. Breaking Sa early in the third game put them ahead and the duo subsequently did not relax their grip over the proceedings as they sealed the first set without much ado at a time when games tend to go with the serve, squandering break points is a luxury that a pair can hardly afford and Paes and Bhupathi put themselves right in the drivers seat by breaking Melo in the first game of the second set.

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 Top seed Andy Roddick closed on his third title of the year by brushing aside Frenchman Marc Gicquel 6-3, 6-1 to reach the semi finals of the ATP event in Los Angeles.

The American on the comeback trail after shoulder and neck injuries grew in confidence as the match wore on to set up a semi-final with unseeded German Denis Gremelmayr who upset former world number one Marat Safin 3-6… 6-3… 6-2. The 31 year old Gicquel matched Roddick in the early stages but the top seed snatched the break in the eighth game and served out for the opening set a series of mistakes from Gicquel in the opening game of the second set handed Roddick the early break and once he had broken again for 4-1 the result was never in doubt and the 1^st set I won 6-3 but I really didn’t feel super comfortable Roddick told reporters. The second set was probably the 1^st really good set I have played in four months I started to move the ball around well so that was a really good feeling. I think this match could be one that I look back on as a turning point in the year. Gremelmayr dealt former US Open champion Safin a blow to his hopes of being seeded at Flushing Meadows this month by coming from behind to beat the Russian in the quarter-finals. World number 44 Safin overpowered the German early but was eventually worn down in an hour and 45 minutes as Gremelmayr who made just seven unforced errors, ran down everything and forced the errors from the Russian fifth seed I made a couple of mistakes the guy started to feel much more comfortable on the court and the momentum was gone Safin said. I didn’t serve very well in the third set and the balls are pretty slow so it was difficult for my game. I could not change it by serving and volleying. It was perfect for him because he was playing very simple tennis and Safin must now hope for a good performance next week in Washington if he is to earn one of the 32 seeded berths in New York not that he seemed overly concerned & It is ok if I am not seeded he said.

Yes it would be good if I am, but I am not going to shoot myself if I am not and American sixth seed Mardy Fish fired eight aces as he reached his second semi-final of the year with a 6-4… 6-4 win over Frenchman Florent Serra fish next plays third seed Juan Martin Del Potro after the Argentine took his winning streak to 12 matches with a 7-6… 6-2 win over American qualifier Amer Delic.

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1- John McEnroe Vs Bjorn Borg

1978 - 81

They played 14 matches against each other and won 7 each. This pair played less each other but leave behind the memories for their fans. It was iceman vs crazy guy. The quite swede with liquid nitrogen in his veins against the hot-head big mouth who told us ” you cannot be serious and made a catchphras out of saying.

2- Chris Everts vs Martina Narvatilova

1973 - 88

They played 80 matches agaist each other, Martina won 43 while 37 went in favour of Chris. One only needs to look at no. of matches they played agaist each other, holy meckere… There was no one big fancy weapon , just astonishing high level consistency.

3- Pete Sampras vs Andre Agassi

1989 - 2002

They played 34 matches agaist each other and 20 times luck favours Sampras while 14 times Agasi manage to won. Agasi and Sampras matches were always of great interest. The tennis lover still watches their videos and enjoyed their game. Sampras had an edge over sampras in service because his service speed was fastest at that time.

John McEnroe vs Jimmy Connors

!977 - 91

The figures are same as in the case of Agassi and Pete Sampras. Mcenroe won 20 while Connors got 14 in his favour. They both were fierce and really fought like puppies. During their matches beside audience the ball boys, umpires and media men too.

To be continued later

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 American Bob Bryan tries not to take mixed doubles too seriously. Still he’d rather win and thats what he and Belarusian Victoria Azarenka are doing at the French Open. They advanced to Fridays final splitting sets and then winning a super tiebreaker to beat second seeded Kveta Peschke and Pavel Vizner 4-6  6-3 10-8 any Grand Slam title is something special Bryan said. To leave Paris with the win would be awesome. Bryan is bidding for his ninth major doubles title. He and twin brother Mike have won five men’s titles, and Bob has won three mixed titles. The Bryans lost this week in the quarterfinals of mens doubles but Bobs on a roll with Azarenka. Seeded third they will play top seeded Nenad Zimonjic and Katarina Srebotnik in the final. We are going to have to play our best stuff Bryan said. Nenad Zimonjic is very intimidating because he is a big server and Srebotnik is a great athlete and can do everything. Bryan and Azarenka won the final three points to pull out the semifinal victory in the tiebreaker. They probably saw the finish line there Bryan said but we just kept plugging away. At 8-8, Bryan hit a forehand winner and on match point Vizner hit a volley long. Zimonjic and Srebotnik advanced in a walkover against Mahesh Bhupathi and Zheng Jie. Bhupathi was unable to play because of a left calf injury. In the final of womens doubles Friday Casey Dellacqua and Francesca Schiavone will play Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual. The final of mens doubles is Saturday when Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor will play Pablo Cuevas and Luis Horna.

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Dinara Safina came from match point down to dump top seed Maria Sharapova out of the French Open as history repeated itself at Roland Garros. Sharapova led by a set an 5-2 and was just one point from victory at 5-3 in the second set before a stunning turnaround saw Safina move on to a 6-7  6/8  7-6  7/5 6-2 victory. The match was something a recurring nightmare for Sharapova as she had suffered a remarkably similar collapse against the same opponent at the same stage of the same tournament in 2006. On that occasion, Safina recovered from 1-5 down in the final set to triumph. Safina the recent winner of the German Open, will now play another Russian Elena Dementieva, in the quarter finals. Sharapova was predictably downbeat after her exit but also conceded Safinas win shouldn’t be seen as a surprise. I had many opportunities and many chances in the match she said. I guess I can say that today was a combination of not taking those chances and getting a little unlucky at times. If you don’t take the chances that you have it can go in the wrong direction really fast. At the end of the day I played against someone thats had really great success in the last couple of weeks on clay. The win against the top players in the tournament she got obviously gave her a tremendous amount of confidence. That really helped her today in certain situations. Safina meanwhile was almost at a loss to explain the turnaround. She was 5-2 up. She had match point. It was all in her hands. And then at 5-3 she had match point. Then I hit a winner on her match point. Then suddenly it changed. I was trying to focus on myself and what I have to do and not to let her dictate to me. I guess in the third set is what happened. Maybe she went a little bit down but then I started not to wait for her mistakes. I had the chance and I had to hit the ball so you have to focus on yourself. In a match featuring some terrific baseline rallies the players traded a break apiece in a serve dominated opening set. It was no surprise to see that a tie break was required to separate the pair and even that could have gone either way. Two errors from Sharapova handed Safina two set points at 6-4 but the top seed then reeled off the next four points  saving one of the set points with an exquisite drop shot  to leave her compatriot slamming her racquet into the clay in frustration. Much of the match had been played in steady drizzle and after Safina had secured a break in the opening game of the second set play was suspended. Upon the resumption she held for a 2-0 lead but the enforced interlude seemed to have sharpened Sharapovas mind and she quickly took control rattling off five games in a row to move to the brink of victory. The Australian Open champion was mixing up her shots more now  she even played some wide balls with a left handed forehand  to good effect and few could have predicted what was to follow. She served for the match at 5-3 but an excellent return game from Safina including a backhand down the line to save the match point proved Sharapova still had work to do and but the confidence was flowing back into Safina never the most graceful mover and she showed all her fighting qualities to level the set and force a second tie break. Again the game looked up when Safina fell 5-2 down in the breaker but again she dug deep and won five straight points to send the match into an unexpected decider. The missed match point must have been weighing heavily on Sharapovas mind but even at the start of the third set you wouldn’t have thought so as she came from 40-0 down in the opening game to break Safinas serve once more. However Sharapova was then broken to love herself and from that point it all went horribly wrong. Errors began to flow from the top seeds racquet but were largely absent from Safinas. Playing some excellent tennis the 13th seed turned the heat on Sharapova in game six and although three break points were saved a fourth wasn’t. Sharapova did not win another game and her hopes of claiming the one Grand Slam title she has yet to win were soon over for another year. Safinas title dream lives on however although she is not thinking that the hard part has already been done by eliminating the top seed. It’s not easy she said looking ahead. Every player is playing really good. It’s not that you play the number one in the world and then suddenly there is nobody else left in the draw. I mean the next girl is also top 10 player Elena and she is playing really good at the moment. I just played her in the last tournament I played Berlin and it was three sets. She is a very tough opponent. Sharapova left the arena with boos ringing in her ears  not the first time she is got on the wrong side of the Roland Garros crowd  but afterwards she played down its significance. I can’t please everyone she said. It’s not my job description. I am an athlete. I go out there and I fight my heart out. I mean they paid for the ticket to watch me so they must appreciate me on some level right? Sharapovas exit in the last 16 means that she could lose her new world number one ranking but when asked about this her reply was glib. Boo hoo  she replied with more than a hint of sarcasm. Believe me when I got off the court that wasn’t the first thing on my mind. Dementieva booked her place in the quarter-finals with victory over Vera Zvonareva in a see saw encounter. Dementieva who reached the final at Roland Garros four years ago overcame a mid-match slump to secure a 6-4 1-6 6-2 win. The other side of the draw were unable to complete their matches rain having disrupted the schedule earlier in the day and 4^th   seed Svetlana Kuznetsova led Victoria Azarenka 6-2 2-2 when play was suspended due to fading light while Kaia Kanepi and Petra Kvitova were level at one set all. In the mens singles Roger Federer will play Fernando Gonzalez in the quarter finals after both players recorded straight sets wins in round four. World number one Federer was given a decent workout by home hope Julien Benneteau but turned up the heat at just the right times to win 6-4 7-5 7-5. Benneteau proved an awkward customer but Federer was able to strike at the end of each of the three sets. His win sets up a last 8 meeting with Chiles Gonzalez a player who has yet to lose on clay in 16 matches this year. The 24th seed proved too good for American Robby Ginepri winning 7-6  7/4  6-3 6-1.Federer is looking forward to the challenge of becoming the man to end that run. He said I didn’t think I had my best serving day today unfortunately and but the last three have been good so I hope the next one is going to be OK again as well. All in all I am very happy with the way I am playing and I am looking forward to my next round match against Gonzalez. Meanwhile Gonzalez knows he will have a battle on his hands against the Swiss a player he has beaten just once in 11 attempts. I don’t really know if I can win against him this time or not Gonzalez said of the 12-time grand slam winner. I think what Roger has done is exceptional outstanding. Not many players could have done that. I don’t have a really good record against Roger but we play many good matches and I really enjoy it. After him there is nobody else. He is number one and you always have nothing to lose.

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Last years Wimbledon runner up Marion Bartoli admitted she needs some time away from tennis after crashing out of the French Open in the first round. The Frenchwoman seeded ninth at Roland Garros has endured a miserable 2008 season failing to replicate the form that took her to the brink of a shock win at SW19 last July when she lost to Venus Williams in the final. Bartolis best performance since then came with a run to the final four of the Open Gaz de France in February and yesterdays 6-7 4/7 6-3 6-2 loss to the unseeded Casey Dellacqua appears to have convinced the 23 year old that it is time for a rest. I’m just fed up the French number one revealed after the match on Suzanne Lenglen Court. I am going to turn off my mobile phone turn off my TV set and forget about Roland Garros. I am going to try not to think about it. I will go far away very far away. Why not take a short break some holidays? Bartoli has won successive matches on just two occasions in 2008 and now hopes to regroup in time for the start of the grasscourt season which will culminate with the third grand slam of the year at Wimbledon at the end of June.Since the start of this year I have been playing and I felt tired Bartoli continued. I will probably start practising for the season on grass but I first want to think about myself. On her defeat to unfancied Australian Dellacqua Bartoli conceded that she did not have enough in her locker to see out the match despite winning the first set. She hit harder than me and took more initiatives said Bartoli. I managed to win the first set but I wasn’t good enough in the two others. I was making too many errors and double faults and she was playing very well. World number one Maria Sharapova was also downbeat after her performance on the Parisian clay yesterday  although she at least emerged with a victory over fellow Russian Evgeniya Rodina. The 21 year old was made to work for the win due to her off-key service game and a swirling wind in Paris but she dug deep when it mattered most to claim an arduous 6-1 3-6 8-6 triumph. World number 104 Rodina should have been dispatched with consummate ease however and Sharapova admitted that her performance was a cause for concern. I won the first set pretty comfortably and I kind of went downhill after that  she said. I was quite tentative giving her opportunities to take control of the points. I was trying to maybe be somebody that I’m not and that can get you in trouble. When you are out there playing under-14 tennis and pushing balls you create your own problems.

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Novak Djokovic came back from a set down to beat unseeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6 6-3 6-3 and claim the Rome Masters tennis title today. Wawrinka had the better of the early exchanges and took the first set after breaking Djokovic in the fifth game. The Serb hung in during a spell on the back foot and pulled himself back into contention with a break in the middle of the second set. He then took Wawrinka’s serve again at the start and end of the final set to bag his 10th ATP title and his fourth Masters Series crown. I knew he’s a difficult player to play against on this surface because he’s achieved his best results on it, Australian Open champion Djokovic said. In the end I did what I had to do. Even though I won in three sets, I’m happy in general with my performance in this tournament. Wawrinka made a confident start to his first Masters Series final, winning points with a backhand volley at the net and a fine forehand pass to get an early break. The third seed was struggling to find his best tennis, but he managed to soak up the pressure before responding with a break in the sixth game of the second set. He held the next two service games to level things up, sealing the last two points of the set with emphatic smashes at the net. His confidence revived, he broke again in the first game of the third set, with the help of another sweet volley at the net and some over-hit shots from the Swiss. Djokovic kept the momentum going his way and Wawrinka had to work hard to hold serve in the seventh game of the decider, saving a break point. But he surrendered shortly it shortly after, Djokovic producing a superb forehand to the corner to wrap up the championship. I was aiming for Rome and Roland Garros as my two priorities in this claycourt season. But of course Hamburg is next week, so I’ll try to do my best there,” he added. I’m very happy that I managed to win a major on this surface because now I have more confidence approaching the big events on this surface and other surfaces as well.

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Using proper equipment for any game is quite necessary. Tennis is also such a game that requires the right equipment to take the true flavor of the game and Speaking of tennis equipment has anyone ever told you that a good workman never blames his tools.

Tennis Racquet

What a crock that is I guess these tossers have never had to play a match with an unfamiliar racquet otherwise they’d know that the equipment you use plays a huge part in how you play and the better you are, the more sensitive you become to playing with the right tennis equipment. For instance, the pros go to extraordinary lengths to satisfy their equipment needs. Head racquets are customized for individual players and Molds are taken of a player’s perfect grip size and shape. Every racquet the player uses is fitted with that grip. Lead tape is used to make sure that the weight and balance point of every racquet is identical as top players are super sensitive to even the slightest degree of difference from one racquet to the other. Wilson tennis rackets are of high quality material to be use from begineer to professional individual.

Tennis Ball

   The ball, along with the racket, is arguably the most important piece of tennis equipment. The tennis ball must lie within the specifications laid down in the Rules of Tennis, while providing consistent playing properties and being sufficiently durable to withstand repeated high-speed impacts with the racket and surface. Consistency is assured by the inclusion of a tight specification of a variety of physical properties in the Rules of Tennis, which ensures that all of the 200 or so brands approved the ITF are recognisable as tennis balls in appearance and playing characteristics.    

Tennis Shoes

   When buying shoes for this game one should go for a proper tennis shoes and not a jogging shoe or a walking shoe since. The shoes should be court specific since the shoe conformity and compatibility differs from one pair to the other. Shoes like apparels should also be comfortable and should ensure that the feet are protected. The toe area should have better protection than the other parts of the foot as a tennis player uses his toes for foreground grand strokes. Nowadays there are shoes, which have special shock absorbers and moisture absorbing mechanism as well. Since the game requires a lot of sudden movements. Use new balance tennis shoes for extra comfort on grass and turf court both.

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Top seed Rafael Nadal cruised into the semi-finals of the Open Sabadell Atlantico with a straight-sets win over unseeded Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela on Friday. The Spaniard, who is gunning for an unprecedented fourth consecutive title in Barcelona, claimed a 6-4 6-2 victory on the clay.Nadal has now won 18 consecutive matches at the $1.39million tournament and has taken 23 consecutive sets dating back to 2006. Second seed David Ferrer is through to the last four on the other side of the draw after claiming a 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 win over sixth seed Tommy Robredo in an all-Spanish quarter-final. The fifth-ranked Ferrer is seeking his second clay-court title of the year after winning his sixth career championship in Valencia last month. Ferrer’s semi-final opponent will be 14th seed Stanislas Wawrinka, who continued his impressive run in the tournament with a 6-3 6-7 (6/8) 6-4 win over Spain’s Albert Montanes. The Swiss number two behind Roger Federer, Wawrinka claimed his most impressive win of the competition on Thursday with a straight sets upset of third seed David Nalbandian. The 23-year-old has won two of his four career meetings with Ferrer. Next up for Nadal is unseeded German Denis Gremelmayr, who claimed a 6-2 3-6, 7-6 (9/7) win over 10th seed Nicolas Almagro. Gremelmayr was a semi-finalist last month in Estoril, where he pushed Federer to three sets.

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Birth Date:         15 Nov 1986

Birth Place:       Mumbai, India
Residence:         Hydrabad, India
Nationality:         INDIA
Height:                 5′7 1/2″ (1.53m)
Weight:                130 lbs. (59kg)
Plays:                  Right Handed (Double Handed Backhand)
Favourite Surface: Hard
Coach: C.G.K.     Bhupathi
Age Began Tennis: 6
Personal Interests: Swimming, Music

Other Information:   Ambition in tennis: To be in the Top 20 of the World.
Favourite player:     Steffi Graf.

Personal

Sania Mirza (born November 15, 1986, Mumbai, India resides in Hyderabad, India) is a professional female tennis player from India. Coached by her father, Imran Mirza, Sania began playing tennis at age six. She turned professional in 2003. She became the first and only Indian woman to reach the 4th round of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005 US Open. She is now the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India (She had a rank of 42, her highest ever, by end of August 2005). Her original goal was to enter the top 100 by the end of 2005, but she revised it to entering the top 50 after good performances at the beginning of the year. (She may have also been helped by the fact that she has very few points to defend for this year and thus, it has been an upward journey in rankings.) As of July 2005, she ranked 5th among Asian women. Her year-end rank in 2004 was 206. My mother took me to a coach, who initially refused to coach me because I was too small,” said Mirza. “After a month, he called my parents to say he’d never seen a player that good at such a young age.” [From WTATour interview] She is 5 ft. 7 in. tall. She has earned a large fan following in India as she is one of the very few young women from the country to have done well at the highest levels of sport. In 2005, she was awarded the Arjuna award in tennis for the year 2004. She has defeated two top 10 players, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova. She is a devout Muslim, who began playing tennis at the age of six. Sania won the Wimbledon Championships Girls’ Doubles title in 2003, teaming up with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia. She got a wild card entry to the 2005 Australian Open and created history by becoming the first Indian woman to enter the third round of a Grand Slam tournament. She lost in the 3rd round to eventual champion Serena Williams. On February 12, 2005, she became the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title defeating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the Hyderabad Open Finals. In her Wimbledon Championships debut, Mirza won her first match at the 2005 event, defeating Akiko Morigami of Japan in three very tight sets, 6-3, 3-6, 8-6. However, she was narrowly defeated in the second round by Svetlana Kuznetsova (a player whom she had defeated earlier in the year for her first top ten victory) 4-6, 7-6, 4-6.

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The top four seeds at the Monte Carlo Masters lived up to their billings on Friday as all secured safe passage to the semi-finals of the prestigious clay court event. Top seed Roger Federer continued his resurgence with a battling victory over David Nalbandian, while Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko all remain in the frame for the title after wins on Friday. It marks only the second time in the history of the ATP Masters Series that all four top seeds have reached the semis. The only previous time it has occurred was at Cincinnati in 1999, when Pete Sampras, Patrick Rafter, Andre Agassi and Yevgeny Kafelnikov achieved the feat. World number one Federer was close to his best against Nalbandian, who had won their two previous meetings in Madrid and Paris. Although he dropped the first set, the Swiss stormed back to clinch a 5-7 6-2 6-2 victory and a place in the semi-finals. The opener was decided by a solitary break of the Federer serve in the 11th game but, after the players traded breaks at the start of the second, Federer struck again to establish a 4-2 lead. A further break set up a deciding set. Nalbandian was still holding his own from the baseline but Federer’s greater variety gave him the edge. The Swiss broke twice more in the third set to go through to a meeting with Australian Open champion Djokovic. Federer admitted afterwards that he was pleased to have played so well against the Argentinian. He told Sky Sports 2: “I have played some good matches this season but clay courts are a different proposition. Federer, who won his first title of the year at Estoril on Sunday, is 5-2 up in his career meetings with 20-year-old Serbian Djokovic, who beat American Sam Querrey 6-4 6-0 in Friday’s quarter-finals to reach the last four. The momentum is with the number three seed, however, as he has taken two of the last three meetings with Federer. They met most recently in the semi-finals at the Australian Open, with Djokovic winning en route to his first grand slam title. Nadal, bidding to become the first player in the Open era to capture four straight titles in Monte Carlo, continued his dominance with a 6-1 7-5 victory against fellow Spaniard and fifth seed David Ferrer. With Friday’s win, the 21-year-old left-hander extended his winning streak at this event to 20 matches and improved to 110-3 on clay since the start of 2005. Fourth-seeded Davydenko earned a 6-3 4-6 7-5 win over Russian compatriot Igor Andreev to set up his fourth meeting with Nadal. Owner of an ATP-best 27 wins this season, Davydenko is attempting to reach his third consecutive final. The 26-year-old claimed the biggest title of his career last month in Miami when he beat Nadal in the final. Davydenko followed that up with a runner-up effort in Estoril, where he conceded the championship match to Federer in the second set due to a leg injury.

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